SWINDON Town assistant coach Scott Lindsey says the club’s opening EFL Trophy group match is just as important as any league game and is eyeing a deep run in the competition this season.

Town welcome Arsenal U21s to the County Ground on Tuesday night, looking for a victory which would take the Wiltshire side level on points with Newport County in Group N.

Swindon have not reached the knockout stage of this competition in any of the last three seasons – while the last time the County Ground outfit got past the first knockout stage was in 2013-14.

Lindsey confirmed changes are likely for Swindon, but said that does not mean the team is any less capable of producing a high-quality performance that generates three points against Kevin Betsy's youngsters.

The Town assistant said: “We want to go as far as we can in this competition and in every game we play.

“We want to win every game we play, that’s a fact. We don’t go out to try and lose games or get knocked out of cup competitions.

“We want to win every game that we play in, so we’ll certainly be trying to do that on Tuesday.

“The preparation that we’ve put in place over the weekend stays the same as what it would be if we were playing a league game.

“Everything stays the same, the same team meetings, the same analysis. We have to put the effort in for us to get what we want out of it.”

Someone who is likely to be given another opportunity for a run out is Ellis Iandolo – a man who Lindsey initially brought to the club during his first spell in 2015 and is now Town’s longest-serving player.

The assistant coach has been pleased to see Iandolo’s development since his return and spoke highly of the 24-year-old’s impact on the new group.

Lindsey said: “Since I was last here, Ellis has obviously grown up a lot, both in age and physicality.

“When I left, Ellis was a very young teenager. He’s a physical specimen now – he can run, he can tackle, he can head the ball. He’s got so many strings to his bow in terms of what he offers the team.

“He can play in a number of positions, and he’s a real good professional.

“He works hard in training, and you can see the effort he puts in on a Saturday.”